Apparatus for preparing wells



Jan. 17, 1928. L Y 1,656 495 F. H. oHLAND APPARATUS FOR PREPARING WELLS Filed Feb. 26, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 17, 1928.

frauen. oni-.Ann or GIBBON, MINNESOTA.

I lar-IfARA'rUsFoR PREPABING WELLS.

vMy invention has- Ier1 its-object tol provide a 4simple"effective "vvay-of'5'preparing Wells tofacilita-tei' the lfre'e li'ow offfwa'ter 'and preventfcloggimg ofthe Well-f; .tovthis lend 'the 5 invention 'falso l'iticliul"es"'a new construction 5. of strainer* unit -andinans cooperative ',tlie'rel with and-kvi't-*tlre 'Well 'cas-ing' jfor 'displacing In genereren@ inventionfproviaes-'fo feed-'- igf'gravel ido'wn into tlie wvelfwithin the 15,' casingyfwithdrarying the sand' through the strainer and 'titthe samef timey replacing the sanawith gavei'ef 'sacriv ccarsenes'sf that it W'ill notfpass'through the strainer openings, therebyipepaiing thev 'iv-'ell "by 1 surrounding 'its' irno're' specific?? nature -the'v invention .provides a' 4vstrainer]of lesser diameter 4than that; of thew'ell-casing and of such length thatthe perforated portionfyvill' lie in the sand:l stratabeneath'the casing While an iinperfrated section is projected' into the Well casingr 'for ajdeteimined' distance, 'means beingr provided to holdf'gthe strainer' section 3 spaeedffrmthe yvallof thecasing and thereby=pr ')vi`del 'ajfgravel reservoir,- into which. gravelma be' placed 'so that it may vgravitate intot e place onceo'ccupied by the sand as'thej'sand'is' drawn=tfhrough the strainer openingsiandremoved from the Well. Means are also providedv for' packing theA well hetween casingl andstrainersections to close the'ltop of-"the'gravel pocket against entry of sand'that may be passing upwardly with 4Q the'waterlstream through the interior of the strainer sectionland of `the Well casing.

In its still more specific' nature the invention resides in those novel details of construction,'combination and arrangement of parts,A

all of lWhich Will'jbe first fully described. their be 'specifically/'pointed out in the appendedclaims', reference 'being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1&1 is l a' vertical longitudinal v section 59 illustrating one embodiment of the invention. Figure 42-is a cross section on the line 2;-2oflFigure'1. l

llFigure' is a'vertical longitudinal section of another embodiment of the invention.

Figure 4 is a cross section on the line 4--45 of r'Figure 3.

,i "nppiieafiirnie rebniary 26, 192e. ,Serial No. 90,523.

Figure 5 is a cross 5-5 ofFigure 3, i i Figure '6 is a vertical longitudinal section ot another^embodiment of the invention showing howl the'l upper section of the section-'jon j the line strainer pipem'ay be llared to pack'the Well.,

Figures (:to 1'0 are detail views hereinafter referred to.

In thefdrawings in which like numerals of reference lindicate like 'parts inA all the iigures, I represents the usual' welll` casing which is sunk i'down to vthe" Water :bearing sand strataS in the vordinal"""vv`a'y.@After the 'Well`cas'in'g is placed Va tu e 2v is' lowered and Worked with its lower-"lend buried in" the' sand, leaving a portion of the tube 'projected within thefcasing l frornwhi'ch it is spaced by lugsor spacers 3.

The 'space 'between the casingv 1 and the tube 2 constitutes a gravel reservoir and is filled with gravel 9 so that as the sand 8' beneath the casing and surrounding the pipe 2 passes under the bottom of the pipe- 2 it is removed through the pipe. the gravel Will' Work down from the gravel reservoir and replace the sandvvuntil' the desiredsheath of' gravel is placed around and beneath the pipe The gravel is preferably placedf in thel pocket or reservoir'by means 'of a duct 7 leading from the top of the Well.

In carrying out `niymethod of preparing wells according toits best practice, I prefer lto use a packer 4 having a flange 5 to fit overthe upper edge of the pipe 2 and close at the top the space between the casing l and the pipe'2 which constitutes the gravel reservoir. The packer 4 preferably has an inclined top 6 and the gravel duct discharges through the top 6 atits highest place as the gravel in feedingl into the pocket beneath the packer -top Will gravitate around the pipe 2 in a similarly inclined manner.

I also prefer to use a. strainer unit instead of the simplepipe 2. Such a.l strainer as I prefer to use constitutes a part of my present invention andcomprises an upperpipe section 10 and a lower pipe'section 11 between )vhich is' located the straining section 12, the latter preferably being constructed of coiled rod or Wire of any suitable cross section as for instance round (see Figure 3.), triangular (see Figure 7), or trapezoidal (see Figure 8) or any other desired shape, or it may be constructed of screening Wire or perforated sheet meta-l section (see Figure 9). The Ypreferred embodiment, however, isfwithfl the straining section 12 constructed of coiled rod.

When coiled rod or wire is used to make 5 the straining part of the strainer unit itis" preferable to coil the wire in such a way that the interior diameter of the coil is less than that of the adjacent pipe section 2 in order to facilitate cleaningor clearing out Ether spaces between. the l coils vwitha suitable rotatable cleaning tool (noti shown) that-@amber let.; .down-into .the A'Well and y a strainer. withgut making it `necessary. Ato remove the strainer for eleaning;

The .strainernnitslalso include a [set of longitudinal rods 13 (Figure) or. 13 (Figure 10) of any suitable cross section, secured l"f tOgtlie outsidel ofgthe pipe lsectionslO and 11: @and strainer vsection 1 2: to hold ythe ,parts i0 assembledY and also to serveas spacers lfor spacingthe strainer unit, from the wall ofA thewvell vcasing into ,which `the upper. pipe f section.. projects, thereby providing the gravel pocket or reservoir. i y u In tead-of. usingapacker 4, the upper end of the Epipe section 1 ()may be made of expansible metal such as lead, so that it may tbe Iexpandedto makea tightjoint between the jstrainer unit andwell casing at the top o of the gravelpocket.

' As Ysa'nd works into the strainer through the strainer section openings the gravel .will workdown around'the strainer' to take the place of the s'and, the removal of sand and its4 replacement withgravelmay be facilitated by surging the waterback and forth with a suitable bailer.

.Byemploying a 'strainer of the character herein .shown and described the well and strainer interior will be left free of obstructions so thatl a strainer cleaning tool may be lowered into the .well to remove any obstructions that may. occurin the openings of the strainer, all without the necessity of taking the strainer out of the well.

When a strainer isused coarse sand`v of a mesh that will not pass through the open- -ings ofthe strainer, may be employed in lieu of gravel, it being, of course, understood that the size of the coarse sand particles or of the gravel will depend on the size of the openings in the strainer.

From the foregoing description` taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it is thought that my invention will be clear to those skilled in the art.

. What I claim is:

l. -In combination with the .well casing, a pipe section located within and spaced from the wall of said casing and projecting out of the lower end thereof, means maintaining said pipe sectionspaced from said casing to provide a gravel reservoir whereby as sand surrounding vsaid pipe section beneath the casing is removed it will be replaced by the gravel from saidreservoir and .means for feeding gravel tosaidreservoir, said means comprising a packer between said pipe section and said casing, and a duct leading down to thepacker and delivering into said 7o reservoir, said packer comprising an extension pipe section fitted on top of the first mentioned pipe section and having anouter flange to vfit the interior of the well casing and--constitutinga cutoff. f if Y. 2. In combination with .a well `casing',.a well: screen .comprising `-two ..\pipe ..seetions joined .byacoil constituting afpenforatedarea, .a series -offlongitudinal vbars ,secured gf to .the ,outside of said pipe.sections,-azmicoil1 ,80 and adaptedto space the screen from the, well casing thereby providing, a igravelf chamber between the screengand casingand.. means-.to ,close theupper end-zof fth e spacey 1:1 between `the screen .pipe andthewell casing, f 85 and means for delivering graveLgintoggthe space beneath the closure.- j f g 3. In combinationwith' a `well casing a, well screen -comprisingtwo-pipe sectloris joined 4by-a coil, the outer ydiameter ofgsaidi?0 coil being lapproximately equal to theilmer diameterofsaid pipe sections, a, seriesof.` longitudinal.. bars-secured to theoutside of,- said vpipe sections and engaging..said=,coil. and adapted to space the screen from .arwell 95 casing, thereby providing a gravelchamber between the screen and casingfm y .1

4. In combination with a well casing, .a well screenV comprising two pipe sections lioined by a coil, the outer diameter of said.v coil being approximately equal to the inner diameter of said pipe sections, a series of longitudinal bars secured to the outside ofi said pipe sections and engaging said coil and.` adapted to space the screen from a well cas; 105 ing, thereby providing a gravel chamber be-A tween the screen andl casing, an extension. pipe section having a flanged end to itover the upper end of the upper pipe section. of` the well screen, .the upper end of said eX= 110 tension4 pipe section lying in an inclined' plane and upwardly flanged to form a cutoff or closure for the space between the screen and well casing, and means for delivering, gravel into the higher portion of that spacefor the purposes specified.

In combination with a well casing,a well screen comprising two pipe sections' joined by a perforated area, a seriesoflongit-udinal bars secured to the outside of said 12u pipe sections and perforated area and adapted to space the screen from awell casing, thereby providing a gravel chamber between the screen and casing, and means to close the upper end of the 4space between the 125 screen pipe and. the well casing, and means for delivering gravel into the space beneath the closure.

6,- A strainer comprising two pipe sections arranged end to end and spacedapart, a 13 coiled rod located between said ends and extending from one pipe section to the other, longitudinal bars secured Wholly to the outside of said coiled rod and to the adjacent pipe sections, said longitudinal bars comprising radial projections extending a distancebeyond the axis of the strainer greater than the external diameter of each ot' the pipe sections and the coiled rod and serving to unite the coiled rod and pipe sections into a rigid structure and also functioning as spacers to space the pipe sections and coiled rod from a well casing into which the strainei` is put.

7 A strainer coinprlsing two pipe sections 15 arranged end to end and spaced apart, a coiled rod located between said ends and extending from one pipe section to the other, longitudinal bars secured to the outside of said coiled rod and to the adjacent pipe 20 

